Treatment of fabric



Sept. 8, 1953 A. MELVILLE TREATMENT OF FABRIC 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 23, 1951 ALEXA n MK NH V/L4LE Inventor Sept, 8, 1953 A. MELViLLE 2,651,098 TREATMENT OF FABRIC Filed Nov. 25, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 P 1953 A. MELVILLEI 2,651,098

TREATMENT OF FABRIC Filed Nov. 23, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 AL'EXAA/DER na /1.1.5

' Inventor Sept. 8, 1953 A. MELVILLE 2,551,093

- TREATMENT OF FABRIC Filed Nov. 23, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 m. EXA Ivor/e ms; W145 Inventor Patented Sept. 8, 1953 TREATMENT OF FABRIC Alexander Melville, Southport, England, assignor t0 Bleachers Association Limited, Manchester,

England Application November .23, 1951, Serial No. 257,763 In Great Britain December 1, 1950 12 Claims. (Cl. 26.2-18.6.)

This invention concerns a two stage process for treating fabric continuous y...

It is. known to over-feed fabric on. to a stenter and while thereon, to subject the fabric to weftwise. tension for the purpose of producing, warp wise shrinkage. This: treatment caus s minu e crinkles or undulations to be produced near the selvedges of the fabric, where the stenter clips or pins have accommodated the extra length of fabric along its selvedges.

To avoid these defects near the. selvedge of a fabric. it has been suggested, that a fabric is first subjected to. a known compressive shrinking process; where it is shrunk lengthwise, before being fed to. a stenter machine, having either clips or pins on which it is stretched widthwisc, dried and/or baked by heat. Such a process thus consists in first. subjecting the. fabric to shrinkage by warp-wise compression across its whole width and consequently to weftwise stretching.

In an arrangement employing such a process, the fabric leaving the compressive shrinking apparatus. is fed directly to a. stenter in the desired shrunken condition, and without the use of any over-feed mechanism.

In an arrangement combining a compressive shrinking machine and a stenter, means are provided for gearing the apparatus together.

Previously it has been the practice, before feeding the fabric on to. the stenter to subject it to compressive shrinkage across its full width. This entailed the use of shrinking machines. at least the width of the fabric, which were costly, bulky and could only feed the fabric onto. the stenter in a uniformly shrunk condition.

It is an object of the invention to eliminate these disadvantages.

According to the present invention the first stage of a method of treating fabric consists of compressively shrinking the selvedge portions only thereof and leaving the remainder of the fabric unshrunk.

In the second stage of treatment, the fabric. is subjected across its whole width to a weft-wise tension on a stenter.

Also according to the present invention, a. machine for treating fabrics, has independent compressive shrinking heads positioned to act on only the selvedge portions of the fabric leaving the remainder unshrunk, and a stenter which grips said fabric. subsequent to the shrinking of its sel vedge portions and subjects the whole. width of the fabric toa weit wise tension, thereby causin the body of he iabric to ink warn-wise and assume the same shrinkage as been given to the selvedge portions by the compr ssive. shrinking heads.

F 7 his purpose tWQ narrow shrinking heads which may each be only about three inches wide,

- may be attached to he chain frames of the stenter. These heads will therefore be moved apart or together, as the case may be, on adjustment, in known manner, of the stenter frames to accommodate the particular width of the cloth web to be treated.

Suitable forms of compressive shrinking apparatus are disclosed in British patent specifications Nos. 359,759, 371,976, 372,803 and 529,579, etc.

Such an arrangement will allow a considerably cheaper and smaller apparatus to be used, as once the fabric has been put on to the stenter clips or pins with its selvedge portions shrunken, the body of the fabric will be caused to shrink in length by weft tension applied to the whole fabric in the stenter. Steam and/or water may also be applied to the fabric to assist this.

It is a further object of the invention to make the straightening of deformed wefts possible, before the fabricis taken on to the stenter. Obviously with these two separate compressive shrinking heads (instead of one wide shrinking unit) in front of the stenter machine, it will be possible to control the shrinking of either selvedge portion as desired, and suitable mechanism can be provided for this purpose.

If, for example, each head is provided with an independent electric motor drive, such motors may be required to run at the same speed, which could be considered to be the normal method of operation. When one of the shrinking heads is required to be used as a weft straightener, its particular motor will have to be varied in speed. Normally the speed of the cloth delivered from the shrinking head will be the same speed as the stenter clips or pins, regardless of the amount of shrinkage imposed by the head. When any change of shrinkage is made by the shrinking head, the speed of the head will either be increased or decreased.

Before treatment by the method or machine according to the invention, the fabric may be damped, or impregnated with chemicals, or may be treated in any other way desirable before being passed into the compressive shrinking heads...

The invention is. primarily applicable to a continuous process; in which the. compressive heads are. in very close proximity to the. stenter... The invention. also. includes within acquiring by conventional means, an increased width for the fabric without seriously disturbing around the rollers and 23. An upper roller 30 is mounted on a spindle 3! which is journalled in a bearing block 32 capable of vertical adjustment in a slot [9c in the bearing support by rotation of a hand-wheel 33 fixed to the end of a screwed spindle 34 which passes through a nut member 35 bolted to the bearing support l9. If the hand-wheel is operated to cause the spindle to press down on the bearing block 32, the roller 30 is urged into further contact with the belt 29 'soas to deform still more the belt as shown in Fig. 1. By adjusting the pressure on the belt its length as determined by a countof its weft threads per unit of measure.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional longitudinal elevation through an arrangement according to the invention showing the disposition of one of a pair of shrinking heads relative to the frame of a chainstenter with which it is associated, the stenter frame width adjustment mechanism being omitted for clarity.

Fig. 2 is a corresponding plan;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary end elevation corresponding to Figs. 1 and 2;

Figs. 4 and 5 are a fragmentary plan and a diagrammatic side elevation respectively of a shrinking plant embodying two shrinking heads associated with a stenter as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic plan of the shrinking heads and stenter shown in Fig. 5.

A machine for treating fabric constructed in accordance with the invention comprises two independent shrinking heads each supported from the chain frame of a stenter. The embodiment illustrated includes a clip stenter having a pair of chains l l, l2, the links of which are integral with the clips l3 in known manner. The chain H runs around a chain wheel M at its starting end and round a driving chain wheel 50 at its finishing end. Likewise the chain [2 runs around a chain wheel I5 at its starting end and around a driving chain wheel 5! at its finishing end. Wheels 50 and 5! are driven through gears by a common drive indicated by 52 (Fig. 6). The distance between the chains II and I2 is variable in known manner, for example. by widening screws 49, so as to provide adjustment for the accommodation of fabrics of different widths.

The stenter has a horizontal frame 16 supported at intervals on stands 11, carrying the widening screws 49 which consist in known manner of separate right and left hand screw rods anchored at the centre.

Two brackets I8, each carrying an individual shrinking head, are bolted to the underside of each of the two corners of the frame H5 at the end of the stenter at which the cloth enters. Each of these shrinking heads includes a bearing support 19 having a base plate 19a which is secured by bolting to the appropriate bracket [8. A roller 26 is mounted on a spindle 2| which is journalled in a sleeve 22 mounted in a bore l9b of the support IS. A second roller 23 is mounted on a spindle 24 which is journalled in a bearing block 25 slidably mounted in a slot [9d in the bearing support IS. The block 25 is attached to a screwed adjustment bar 26 carrying a washer 21 and nut 28, whereby the bearing block may be moved upwardly and to the right in the slot 19d (Fig. l) by tightening the nut 28. A belt 29, constructed of rubber felt or other suitable material, passes surface the shrinkage given to the fabric is increased or decreased accordingly.

An electric motor 36 is mounted on each of the brackets I8. Each motor carries a driving sprocket 3T fixed to its power output shaft. This sprocket 31 is coupled by way of a driving chain 38 (shown in part only in Fig. 3 for clarity) to a driven chain wheel 39 which is mounted on the spindle 3| which also carries the roller 30. It will thus be seen that when the motor 36 is energised it causes rotation of the roller 38 by way of sprocket 31, chain 38, chain wheel 39 and spindle 3i. Rotation of the roller 30 causes the belt 29 to move round thereby also causing the rollers 20 and 23 to rotate.

In an arrangement accordin to the invention there is a shrinking head at each side of the entering end of a stenter (Figs. 4 and 5). A guide roller 40 extends across the full stenter width. This guide roller is situated with its uppermost surface region at approximately the height of the plane of gripping action of the clips 13 of the stenter, and is disposed between the start of the stenter run and the upper rollers 39 of each of the two shrinking heads. Additional guide rollers of similar width are provided at M, 42, 43, and 44 (Fig. 5) so as to be capable of uiding a web 45 of cloth to be treated from a rolled batch 4B of the cloth carried on a trolley 41. A stillage 48 extending also across the width of the stenter is provided for supporting the operator.

In operation the cloth is unwound from the batch 46 and the web moves upwardly around the guide roller 44 and then horizontally at high level and then round the guide roller 43. It then moves downwardly to below the level of the stillage 48 and is guided around the roller 42, after which it moves horizontally at low level to the guide roller 41, and thereafter again moves upwardly, whereupon its two selvedge portions are engaged each by one of the shrinking heads. The selvedge portions of the cloth web contact the extended surface of the belts 29 of the appropriate shrinking head and are gripped between the outer surfaces of the belts and the corresponding parts of the'upper rollers 39. The cloth is removed from contact with the belts 29 while they are in a contracted state, preferably at a tangent thereto, in a shrunk state along its selvedge portions, and thereafter passes around the guide roller 40 and so on, to become engaged by the clips 13 of the appropriate stenter chain II or l2.

Since the fabric selvedge portions leave each shrinking head in a shrunk or shortened condition, the linear speed of the fabric over the uide roller 40 and in the clips of the stenter will be less than the speed at which the unshrunk web is taken into the shrinking heads over the guide rollers 44, 43, 42 and 4!.

Electrical means ar provided for synchronising the driving speeds of the motors 36 and thus of the two shrinking heads. It is, however, neeessary to enable these speeds to be varied so that one shrinking head may be run at a different speed relative to the other shrinking head for the purpose of straightening the weft of a distorted web of cloth.

The degree of compressive shrinkage applied to each selvedge portion of the fabric is readily adjustable independently by means of handwheel 33.

I claim:

1. A method of treating fabric by compressively shrinkin the selvedge portions only of said fabric, leaving the remainder thereof unshrunk.

2. A method of treating fabric comprising in combination compressively shrinking the selvedge portions only of said fabric, leaving the remainder thereof unshrunk, and subsequently subjecting said fabric to a weft-wise tension on a stenter.

3. A method of treating fabric comprising in combination compressively shrinking each selvedge portion of said fabric to the same degree leaving the remainder thereof unshrunk, and subsequently subjectin said fabric to a weft-wise tension on a stenter.

4. A method of treating fabric comprising in combination compressively shrinking each selvedge portion of said fabric to a different degree, leaving the remainder of said fabric unshrunk,

' and subsequently subjecting said fabric to a weftwise tension on a stenter.

5. A method of treating fabric comprising in combination compressively shrinking the selvedge portions only thereof, the rate of travel of either selvedge portion being temporarily varied by a controllable degree so that straightening of deformed weft threads of said fabric may be achieved, leaving the remainder of said fabric unshrunk, and subsequently subjecting said fabric to a weft-wise tension on a stenter.

6. A method of treating fabric comprising in combination damping the fabric and impregnating it with chemicals before compressively shrinking each selvedge portion of said fabric at an independent and controllable rate of travel, making weft straightening possible during treatment, leaving the remainder of said fabric unshrunk, and subsequently subjecting said fabric to a weft-wise tension on a stenter.

'7. A method of treating fabric comprising in combination damping the fabric and impregnating it with dyestuffs before compressively shrinking each selvedge portion of said fabric at an independent and controllable rate of travel, making weft straightening possible during treatment, leaving the remainder of said fabric unshrunk, and subsequently subjecting said fabric to a weft-wise tension on a stenter.

8. A method of treating fabric comprising in combination compressively shrinking each selvedge portion of said fabric at an independent and controllable rate of travel, making weft straightening possible during treatment, leaving the remainder of said fabric unshrunk, and subsequently subjecting said fabric to a weft-wise tension on a stenter whilst applying steam to the fabric.

9. A machine for treating fabric comprising in combination independent compressive shrinking heads and a stenter, said heads being positioned to act only on the selvedge portions of fabric supplied to the machine leaving the remainder of said fabric unshrunk, and said stenter being arranged so as to grip said fabric subsequent to the shrinking of its selvedge portions and subject the whole width of said fabric to a weft-wise tension, thereby causing the body of said fabric to shrink warp-wise and assume the same shrinkage as has been given to the selvedge portions by the compressive shrinking heads.

10. A machine for treating fabric comprising in combination independent compressive shrinking heads and a stenter, said heads being attached to the frame of said stenter adjacent to the point at which the fabric being treated enters the stenter, so as to be adjustable with the stenter frame, when said frame is movedto accommodate the varying widths of fabric and being positioned to act only on the selvedge por tions of fabric supplied to the machine leaving the remainder of said fabric unshrunk, and said stenter being arranged so as to grip said fabric subsequent to the shrinking of its selvedge portions and subject the Whole width of said fabric to a weft-wise tension.

11. A machine for treating fabric comprising in combination independent compressive shrinking heads, a drive for each head, and a stenter, said heads being attached to the frame of said stenter adjacent to the point at which the fabric enters the stenter and being positioned to act only on the selvedge portions of fabric supplied to the machine leaving the remainder of said fabric unshrunk, and said stenter being arranged so as to grip said fabric subsequent to the shrinking of its selvedge portions and subject the whole width of said fabric to a weft-wise tension.

12. A machine for treating fabric comprising in combination independent compressive shrinking heads, each capable of separate adjustment enabling the degree of shrinking imparted to fabric passing therethrough to be regulated, a drive for each head, and a stenter, said heads being attached to the frame of said stenter adjacent to the point at which the fabric enters the stenter and being positioned to act only on the selvedge portions of fabric supplied to the machine leaving the remainder of said fabric unshrunk, and said stenter being arranged so as to grip said fabric subsequent to the shrinking of its selvedge portions and subject the whole Width of said fabric to a weft-wise tension.

ALEXANDER MELVILLE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,078,904 Cluett Apr. 27, 1937 2,450,022 Schreiner Sept. 28, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 786,426 France s June 8, 1935 

